The Cultivation Act

In the beginning of the exhibition, 1500 petri dishes are placed in a cube formation on a light table. On a weekly basis the exhibition space will be swiped for bacteria, cultivated in the petri dishes and used to built a new cube on a similar light table. Growing from one cube to another, the two cubes are constantly changing shape. Colours will change as one will become increasingly transparent and the other more colourful and dynamic.

By displaying human bacterial traces in a cube, The Cultivation Act reflects on the human body as the starting point for art. By revealing the otherwise invisible and socially disregarded bacteria SUPERFLEX points towards bacteria as vital building blocks for every organic existence and the base for universal life and death.

The Cultivation Act was first presented as part of the solo exhibition The Liquid State at 21st Century of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. SUPERFLEX found that the famous museum building created by architect Sanaa resembled a giant petri dish culturing contemporary art - consequently SUPERFLEX based the entire exhibition around the concept of the museum as a petri dish.